Marketing

You need to generate business. But you also don’t want to be seen as pushy and over-aggressive. Demonstrating initiative and assertiveness shows professionalism and confidence. So how do you strike the balance between assertive and pushy? Between giving them lots of good information and ta...

I recently discovered a really interesting series that Buzzfeed does about money and lifestyle. They look at the same product or service, at three different businesses with three different prices. In this video they look at a hostel at $50/ night, a boutique hotel at $400/ night, and a two-story ...

The 1st time people look at ad, they don’t see it. The 2nd time, they don’t notice it. The 3rd time, they are aware that it is there. The 4th time, they have a fleeting sense that they’ve seen it before. The 5th time, they actually read the ad. The 6th time, they thumb their […]...

The Mere Exposure Effect is a pattern in human psychology where people develop preferences for things simply because they have been exposed over and over. Familiarity breeds preference. This is related to our tribal nature. Trust, familiarity, rapport, authority–these are all tied together. T...

You’re probably reading this in an email. I’m using my own email practices as a jumping-off point to discuss email marketing, with an audience that is, itself, reading this in an email. Very meta. (And on top of that, I’m doing a free class in NYC this Sunday about email marketin...

Yesterday I talked about the level of activity small businesses do to get customers. Unfortunately for many, they are working with good channels, but they are not active enough on them. You could have the best marketing strategy in the world, but if you are not executing it, it’s pointless. (P...

It’s very simple. This problem arises when you are either not doing enough promotional activity or not doing the right kinds of promo activities. Here are some examples of not doing enough total activity: A lawyer who goes to one networking event every few months and meets 4 or 5 people. An ac...

The sales and marketing process does not end at the close. In fact, the vast majority of your income is earned after the first closed deal. Most of your lifetime income will be from the long-term relationship with your best clients. So managing and maintaining those long-term relationships is crit...

A guest at one of my recent talks in NYC had a problem. She was getting overwhelmed by all of the options for social media promotion. It’s understandable, since social media can be complex and confusing. Social media is a great tool for marketing, but also requires lots of work. From Twit...

Content is such a great small business marketing tool. It’s cheap or free to produce, it’s easy to reach tons of people, and it gives you an outlet for your creativity. But what kind of content should you be making? How do you choose among thousands of potential topics? Here are some s...